Unidentified body found caught in Texas floating border wall, Mexico says

The Mexican government reported on Wednesday that a body was spotted floating alongside the floating border wall installed in the Rio Grande River last month. 

Authorities were trying to recover the body from the water and determine the individual’s cause of death, said Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department. 

The discovery comes weeks after Mexico filed a complaint with the U.S. government over the floating barrier, in which it claims that the buoys it is made up of pose a threat to migrants.

Mexico has also claimed that the measure might violate the boundaries and water treaties between the two countries. 

“We made clear our concern about the impact on migrants' safety and human rights that these state policies would have,” the Mexican department said in a statement.

In mid-July, Texas began installing a floating barrier made up of four-foot-wide buoys in the Rio Grande River near the city of Eagle Pass, Texas, across from the U.S.-Mexico border. The bright orange buoys are designed to prevent anyone from crossing over them or under them. 

According to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the floating barrier is meant to prevent thousands of undocumented migrants from entering the country illegally and deter them from crossing the Rio Grande’s dangerous waters.

The state of Texas was sued last week by the U.S. Justice Department over the barrier. Abbott installed the buoys without previously obtaining proper authorization, according to the agency, 

The lawsuit also claims that the “floating barrier poses threats to navigation and public safety and presents humanitarian concerns."

Texas is also facing an additional lawsuit filed by a kayaking company, which claims that the barrier is damaging its business by preventing it from giving tours in the Rio Grande River. 

More than 60 organizations sent a letter to Texas state legislators on Tuesday, urging them to end the “violent border strategies” that are being used in the Rio Grande River, according to a statement by the Border Network for Human Rights. 

Last week, Abbott defended his decision to use the buoys despite the lawsuits and criticism. 

“I will do whatever I have to do to defend our state from the invasion of the Mexican drug cartels and others who have tried to come into our country illegally, and I will protect our sovereignty,” the governor said.